This disclosure relates to a system for automatically printing documents that are stored on a portable memory device with little or no user activation of a local user interface (LUI), and in particular to a method and apparatus for automatically processing job interruptions caused by plugging in a portable memory device to a printer.
In performing a conventional print job in a document system or a multi-function peripheral (MFP), such as sending a file to the printer via network or plugging in a USB to a printer, a user normally needs to perform several steps. For example, in a normal print job in a networked environment, the user needs to send a print job from a computer and walk to the printer to retrieve the printed document. In another example, the user plugs into the printer a USB or other media card that stores documents to be printed. The user needs to use the LUI to browse the file directory on the USB card and select the files to be printed. In some scenarios, a print job that prints the documents from the USB card in one printer may be interrupted, and it needs to be resumed on another printer. In other scenarios, when the user plugs a USB card into the printer, a currently active print job in the printer may still exist. In these scenarios, how to automatically process job interruptions with little or no user activation of an LUI even adds more complexities to the print job processing in the document system.
This document describes a system that may address at least some of the issues described above.